Explorer Dome in Holbrook!

Recently, children in Year 5 & 6 were treated to a visit from the Explorer Dome company, which set up inside our school hall.

Within the giant inflated “dome” pupils had a chance to work on our Science topic – light – exploring sources of light, how light can be changed and reflected and the origins of light in our solar system.

“It was amazing – I loved it,” (Ella)

“Woah, it’s like being in a different world.” (Alfie)

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below to tell us your thoughts…

[Written by Mr Thorns]

 

Turing Team ~ Remembrance Day Activities

As part of our Team Day activities in Turing, we have been combining the work of Pop Art with Remembrance activities for this time of the year.

Some children used fruit and vegetables to make poppy printing. These were in bright vibrant colours just like the Pop Art artists we had looked at. Other children designed “Pop Art Spitfires” adding vibrant colours to their work, making sure to use the colour wheels to find complimentary colours too.

Children in Turing team also had a chance to look at Pop Art lettering, often seen in the Marvel Comics too. We tried replicating this style, using remembrance words to add to this design.

Leave a comment below to let us know what you think of the designs we created!

[Written by Mr Thorns]

Winchester Science Museum

Year 5 and 6 started the new academic year with a trip to the Winchester Science Museum on 25th September 2018. After a quick trip up the motorway, we arrived ready to experience the Planetarium and take part in the Sound workshops.

There was so much there to touch, pull, push, run along that it was extremely difficult to decide what to do first. Fortunately, the decision was made for us as the guide showed us into the planetarium. This was amazing. The lights went down and we could see the night sky above us. Luke pointed out the North Star, the different constellations and how stories were made up about them. We zoomed in and out of the Galaxy (a little bit disconcerting..and stomach churning!) to look at some of the other planets. We learnt so interesting facts, for example, if we wanted to travel to Mars, it would take six months to travel there and there would be no return trip!

After this, we were able to visit the new space area. This was full of exciting and wonderful exhibits. Some of us were able to step into an actual spacesuit, walk in a room that was an optical illusion and see how the planets rotate around each other. We were able to talk from side of the room to another through a large tube reminding us of the cups and strings we had made back at school.

Next was a quick lunch and then we started our Sound workshops. We were shown two metal poles – one longer than the other. The teachers heated up the poles and then turned them over. They made low and high notes. Do you know which one made which noise? We do! We also put strange hats on our heads and tried to work out where the sound was coming from. This was much more difficult than it sounds. The tubes on the hats seem to distort the sound and represented how animal’s hearing has evolved over time.

All in all, it was a great trip with many children asking to go back again…..and soon!

[Written by Mrs Landon]

Our busy week in Angelfish

Dear Parents,

What a busy week we have had this week! On Thursday we became knights in training and completed several training activities including jousting, shooting a bow and arrow, rescuing people, practising our sword skills and horse riding skills and doing medieval dancing. We also had a visit from the fire service who taught us all about fire safety and other ways to keep safe. The children got to go in the fire engine and everyone got to have a go at using the hose to put out a pretend fire. On Friday we went to Porchester Castle. We are so proud of how well the children behaved, how resilient they were at coping with the cold weather and how brave they were going all the way to the top of the castle keep. They were true Holbrook heroes! We have our class assembly next Friday where we will be sharing what we have been learning in this topic and some more photos from our school trip. We hope to see you there.

Thank you,

Angelfish Class

Fairthorne Update Number 4!

Hello from Fairthorne

We all woke up to blue skies and sunshine this morning which made a nice change after the rain. First activities were the crate challenge and vertical assault course. The assault course was great, and lots of us managed to reach the top which was no means feat. The crate challenge was good too and lots of us conquered our fears and stood on at least 8 crates.

Despite the torrential rain at lunchtime we spent an extra session in the sports hall playing games and then the final activity was the blind trail. A muddy walk through the woods with blind folds on which involved a lot of trust between each other.

Tonight, after roast chicken, it will be the campfire and then packing bags before bed. A cup of hot chocolate and a story and then a good night’s sleep before we come home tomorrow.

Do feel free to leave a comment below and let us know what you think of the Blogs… they are being viewed by so many of you, making them really worthwhile. We hope they are of use…

Bye for now, from all at Fairthorne!

[Written by Mrs Dudley and Mr Thorns]

Fairthorne Update… Number 3!

Hello from Fairthorne!

Well as the sun has set on another fabulous day at the camp, children have had a fun filled day of adventurous pursuits, from outdoor den building and obstacle courses to an amazing session of indoor archery to hone their accuracy and bow skills!

The day began a little damp and windy, but nothing  could dampen the Holbrook spirit from creating some magnificent woodland structures to shelter  from a “storm” – whereby an instructor threw a large canister of water to “test” each of the dens! Much laughing and screaming were heard in equal measures!

Alongside this, the children also conducted teamwork games, working together and collaborating on several problems testing their initiative too! A lunch of giant warm sausage rolls and winter soup warmed everyone, ready for the outdoor obstacle course! This muddy-marathon of tires, barriers, a giant spiders web and swing rope over a swamp was enjoyed by all, with children throwing themselves in (literally) to each of the tasks. Parents would have been so proud – albeit they might have been shocked at how much mud, leaves and twigs could stick to their children! A great activity, with a highlight being the children cheering Mason R onwards as he beat Mr Burt around the course. Mason even stopped for a cheeky celebratory wave as he Tarzan’ed to victory over the gloopy swamp on a rope swing!

Other special mentions are deserved for Charlie and Reagan’s splashes into the swamp and Harvey’s superb shot knocking a ten-pin skittle off of a target from 15m away! Disco night tonight, after a hearty meal of meatballs and pasta with chocolate brownies to finish.

A huge thank you also to all you parents, who have provided such excellently prepared kit and resources, which have allowed the children to complete their activities come rain or shine. This has been exceptionally appreciated by the staff and instructors too.

Goodbye for now, from all at Fairthorne!

[Written by Mr Thorns & Mrs Dudley]

Fairthorne Update Number 2!

Good evening from Fairthorne!

Day 2 started wet and grey but a breakfast of sausages and hash browns soon raised our spirits. Group 1 headed off for the zip wire while group 2 went into the woods to find insects. The rain continued but everyone was doing their best to be their best and challenge themselves to attempt the zip wire, then the abseiling wall and finally the climbing wall.

Even Mr Burt abseiled and climbed the wall. Mrs Dudley and Mrs Ingledew were very busy taking photos!!

This evening, it’s fish and chips for tea then relay games in the hall. The instructors here have lots of enthusiasm and are proving to be a big hit with the children.  The teachers are hoping for an early night for everyone!

Goodbye for now, from all at Fairthorne Manor!

[Written by Mrs Dudley and Mr Thorns]

Year 4 Explore the Lost Thing Book!

Children have been working on hard on the book ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan. The story is about Shaun who enjoys collecting bottle tops for his bottle top collection. One day, while collecting bottle tops near a beach, he discovers a strange creature. This creature is referred to as “The Lost Thing” by the narrator.

The author has described The Lost Thing as a combination of an industrial boiler, a crab, and an octopus and we have encouraged the class to select adjectives to go with nouns and adding verbs for movements when they have describing an image of The Lost Thing:

A good description was: ‘The lid was spiky and the machine’s legs were yellow as rotten teeth!’

As the class has read through the book we have also focused on emotions of the characters featured in the story and the class has been developing their skills into describing how the characters feel by using the striking visual images featured in the story and short film.

This is one of the final scenes and the children having built up their writing skills, the children wrote a description of what was happening such as: ‘Back I stepped from the door, I felt sad for the Lost Thing because he can’t see me any more as the door closed.’

Great work Pelicans on this interesting book.

[Written by Mr Blows]

Science Transition at Bridgemary!

Today, those children who will be transitioning onto Bridgemary School next year had the opportunity to take part in a secondary school style Science lesson. 

The first thing the children noticed was that the classroom did not look like the classrooms at primary school and that actually it was more like a laboratory. The teacher made all of the children aware of the safety rules within the classroom before they had the chance to experiment with Bunsen Burners. The children set up, lit and used a Bunsen Burner correctly, which is a dangerous piece of equipment!

They all left feeling extremely excited about becoming scientists at secondary school.

[Written by Miss Trenchard & Dolphins]

Trip to the Submarine Museum!

Those children not going to Wales have embarked on their own adventures this week, beginning with a trip to the Submarine Museum in Gosport.

The day began with a guided tour from a real submariner of HMS Alliance – a World War 2 era submarine. The tour was very interesting and filled with amazing places to see inside the submarine, such as the control room, the engine room, the mess (relaxing area) and the loos! We had to climb and duck through the hatches, stepping over all sorts of items on the floor and exploring what life was like for people living in a submarine.